5 day style challenge: Going for Gold

My usual style of make-up can best be described as a natural-ish look. I wear just enough to cover my blemishes and dampen my insecurities, but not really enough for my beauty products to be noticeable.

I generally feel most comfortable with a little BB cream, a little mascara, and a little brow definition. Nice and simple.

This week, I decided that it was time I got out of my comfort-zone. I wanted to try the most daring looks I could think of and challenge myself to take some beauty risks; each day I wore a different bold, gold beauty product in the hope of facing my fear of eye-catching make-up.

Here's how I got on...

Day 1 - Nails

Nail polish: 'Color Riche Oil Nail Varnish', L'Oréal

I wanted to ease myself into the challenge gently on day 1, so I started with the one beauty product I've never shied away from. Unlike make-up, I am not afraid to go bold with my nail polish. Playing it safe and sticking to what I knew for the beginning of the challenge, I began the week by introducing a little gold to my style without it feeling like too big a step.

The colour may not have been a challenge, but painting the heart by free-hand was. I was overly optimistic as usual, deciding that I absolutely, definitely had time to quickly paint a heart on my nail between university readings and essays. About an hour after first trying to paint it, the heart finally worked. Nailed it.
Day 2 - Eyebrows

Gilded brow tint: ‘Spun Gold’, H&M

It’s safe to say that I had never felt inclined to tint my eyebrows gold before this week. Considering I bought my first ever brown eyebrow pencil about a month ago, this style took a lot of courage for me to try.

Although I was apprehensive, especially when leaving home and going out in public, I've got to admit that wearing this make-up was so much more fun than I had thought it would be. I was even compared to someone from the Hunger Games which is something I hadd never expected to hear.

This brow tint made my day a little bit brighter, and I was starting to think that maybe bold make-up wasn't quite as scary as I had first thought.

Day 3 - Eyes

Liquid eyeliner: ‘All That Jazz’, H&M

On day 3, I went bold and bright with glittery gold flicks. Black eyeliner and I have never seen eye-to-eye so I was slightly dreading this look.

However, it turns out that gold eyeliner is my new favourite thing. The lines’ dazzling brightness did a wonderful job of attracting attention away from the asymmetry of each eye's eyeliner. Overall, I was actually quite pleased with how it looked and loved stepping outside with sparkling eyes.

Day 3 was a good day; I was made-up with this make-up.

Day 4 - Cheeks

Eyeshadow: ‘Golden Light’, H&M

Day 4 was disappointing. I had been getting used to the bold, gold look and I was excited to try out golden cheeks. Adding a shimmery eyeshadow under my eye and along my cheekbones, I had high hopes for the end result.

In hindsight, maybe eyeshadow wasn’t ideal for my cheeks - the gold powder was not a deep enough colour to stand out on my face. If I looked closely, I could see some sparkles under my eyes in the light. Otherwise, it didn’t seem too different to my standard natural-ish make-up style and I was firmly back in my comfort-zone.

In only a few days, I had already started to enjoy being more adventurous with make-up; I was surprised to find myself wishing for something more daring than shimmering cheeks.

Day 5 - Lips

Lipstick: ‘Color Riche Gold Obsession Lipstick’, L’Oréal

To make up for a distinct lack of gold on day 4, I ended the week in style with the boldest lipstick I have ever had the courage to wear.

Usually only sticking to shades of pinks and reds, gold lipstick would have felt completely beyond what I was comfortable with before this week. Now, having spent an entire day this week with gold-tinted eyebrows, it was easy.

I had expected to spend the entire day self-conscious about how shiny and noticeable my lipstick was, but it felt completely normal to spend a day with gold-coloured lips and I was so pleased with how it looked.

At the end of this 5 day style challenge, I have officially been won over by the beauty of gold make-up. I had no reason to be fearful of the stand-out make-up and beauty style before this week. In fact, it now looks like my make-up style is about to get a whole lot bolder.